Thus, the country’s production is recovering, but is still at levels close to the late 2016 and the June data indicate a stumbling block in this recovery.
A particularly worrying factor: the economic activity of tertiary activities fell 0.7% in June , which contribute 66.9% of the national economy. The services sector was particularly hit by the pandemic and continues to be impacted by the uncertainty that the new variants of the SARS-coV-2 virus entail and the need for new restrictions on its activities.
In addition, there has been a significant destruction of productive capacity for small and medium businesses that had to close or reduce their workforce.
In contrast, sectors related to consumption and with high use of digital technologies such as wholesale trade and retail trade have already recovered and exceeded their pre-pandemic levels.
On the other hand, the health services sector, which due to the health nature of the crisis had not decreased since the beginning of the pandemic, is currently 17.3% above its level prior to the pandemic (1Q2020). However, 12 of the 20 sectors into which the economic activity in Mexico is divided still does not recover.
A focused recovery strategy is necessary for tertiary activities. In particular, recreational, cultural and sports services, as well as accommodation and restaurants, are still well below their prepandemic level: -35.3% and -22%, respectively.
Asymmetric recovery has important social implications at the state level. Entities highly dependent on services and tourism have seen significant increases in their levels of working poverty . From the quarter prior to the pandemic (1Q2020) to the second quarter of this year, in Mexico City the population living in working poverty increased by 11.6 percentage points (pp). In Baja California Sur it increased 7.2pp and 6.4pp in Quintana Roo.